Page 73 of Scent of Desire
“Thank you. I’ll give the microphone back to Hugo—if you have any questions. I just—”
Seeing Radcliff disappear through the little courtyard, I jumped off the podium and let Hugo take over with an apologetic smile. I squeezed my way through the crowd, chasing after Radcliff.
My heart leaped with every breath I took, and adrenaline filled my whole body. Once outside, there was in the middle of the night a black limousine on the deserted royal bridge of Alexander III. I lifted my long dress and took off my heels, then left them on the ground.
Barefoot, I sprinted after Radcliff, who was advancing on the bridge, his coat forming the Devil’s cape to join his ride back to hell. My bun came undone, and the locks of my hair fluttered through the breeze, a few still held up by the brooch he had gifted me.
“Radcliff!” I yelled after him, determined to not let him escape me, my heart necklace bouncing on my chest.
He opened the door of his limo and stepped inside it.No.I ran with all my might and quickly arrived at the car—the door had just closed with Radcliff inside. I banged on the glass of his window with all my madness.
The window rolled down, and our eyes met in a moment of eternity. My heart fell silent, peaceful, and the world calmed down. I yearned to kiss him, to throw myself into his arms for him to take me away into a world he had created for us.
Radcliff was just the way my dreams remembered. Beautiful and haunted. A dark king with a smell that lured me to him.
I had so many questions to ask him. So many things to say. But all that came up was “What are you gonna do now?”
“I always have a plan.” A devilish half-smile slanted his mouth. Radcliff was, like always, on a quest. “Nothing like the aphrodisiac, I assure you.”
“Something worse, perhaps?” I hinted by raising an eyebrow.
To that, he almost gave me a true, sincere smile.
“Magical, I would say,” he replied, his voice laced with amusement. He then went serious. “You know I can’t be good.”
“And perhaps I wouldn’t be with you if you were.” I smiled.
Radcliff wasn’t good nor evil. He was cruel to some. Merciless to others. Perfect to me. He had black needs and dangerous obsessions. He had a heart. A dark one that had gone through hell, cut with thorns. A soul that he had abandoned and needed to reconnect with.
A man, a beast, or a god—I wouldn’t change anything about him, because neither part of him existed without the other.
“You’re so beautiful, flower goddess. You’re the only woman I ever looked at and will ever look at this way.” His voice warmed my insides and bloomed my entire being.
“Which way?”
“The way where I feel the need to worship you. The way you brought to life my humanity, and the way you made me entirely yours.” He stole my breath with his raw sincerity, exposing a vulnerability he never dared to show. “I wish you could come with me, but I’m trying to not be selfish with you after what I’ve put you through. I can’t offer you what you deserve. You belong here. To the light. I’ll always be your shadow.”
You’re more than that.
My heart was breaking through the tension. It all seemed like goodbyes. We were a part of each other, bound by something stronger than fate. But heaven and hell couldn’t merge together; we both had a kingdom to rule. My place was here, for now. His wasn’t.
All I knew was that the future was full of possibilities, and the impossible never scared us.
“I always thought I had a guardian angel. Truth was, I had the Devil behind my back.”
“Forever,” he promised.
“Radcliff,” I mused with a trembling voice. “That day at the orphanage… Vincent, he was your father, wasn’t he? Did you get that scar because of me? Because you helped me?”Was I the reason you lost faith in humanity, as you once told me?
My chin shook facing his tormented silence, and my eyes watered. I’d been the final reason he had stopped believing in humanity, the one that caused his status as a monster. The price he had paid for protecting me.
“I’ll do anything for you, Lily. Especially the worst.”
I let a tear roll down my cheek and pressed my lips together. I would show the same strength he had shown for me.
I squared my shoulders and cast a new curse on him. “You know, you said you can’t run from the Devil. But, Radcliff, make no mistake, I’m a witch. I’ll find you.”
A fine line drew on his lips as dark mirth glittered on his purple calla lily eyes when he pulled up his window. “I’m counting on it.”
